From Linear Lecture To Interactive Multimedia Module: A Developer's Perspective

Computers, hitherto viewed as tools, are becoming an emergent medium in their own right. In embracing this new medium, educational multimedia developers can create engaging and stimulating interactive learning modules, especially appropriate for the humanities. This paper describes the decisions taken along the way and explores the processes involved in transforming a traditional lecture in medical sociology into an interactive online learning module.

De la conférence on ligne au module interactif multimédia: une perspective pour les concepteurs.

Les ordinateurs connus jusqu'ici comme des outils deviennent de plus en plus des médias en soi. En prenant possession de ce nouveau média, les concepteurs multimédia éducatifs peuvent créer des modules interactifs stimulants et attrayants convenant particulièrement aux sciences humaine. Cet article décrit les décisions prises en chemin et explore les processus impliqués dans la transformation d'une conférence traditionnelle en sociologie médicale en module interactif d'apprentissage en ligne.

Vom linearen Vortrag zum interaktiven Multimedia Modul: Ansichten eines Entwicklers

Computer, bisher nur als Werkzeuge betrachtet, werden zunehmend ein eigenständiges Medium. Multimedia Lernumgebungsentwickler können überzeugende und anregende interaktive Lernmodule entwickeln, wenn sie sich dieses neuen Mediums bedienen. Das gilt besonders für die Humanwissenschaften. Dieser Beitrag beschreibt die Entscheidungen und sondiert die Prozesse, die auf dem Weg der Umwandlung einer traditionellen Vorlesung in Medizinischer Soziologie zu einem interaktiven Online-Lernmodul getroffen wurden.     

IDENTIFICATION OF READING PROBLEMS IN FIRST GRADE WITHIN A RESPONSE-TO-INTERVENTION FRAMEWORK

Models of Response to Intervention (RTI) include parameters of assessment and instruction. This study focuses on assessment with the purpose of developing a screening battery that validly and efficiently identifies first-grade children at risk for reading problems. In an RTI model, these children would be candidates for early intervention. We examined accuracy, fluency, growth, and teacher rating measures as predictors of child status (at risk, not at risk) at the end of the school year based on an unselected sample of 243 children. The prediction model that best fit our selection criteria included 2-word fluency measures and a teacher rating of reading problems. Word-fluency growth was an equally plausible choice statistically, but, because the measure would require an additional data point, it was not the most efficient choice. The receiver-operator characteristic curve analysis yielded an area-under-the-curve index of .96, which indicates the selected 3-variable model is highly accurate.     

Implementation and Outcomes of Supplemental Educational Services: The Tennessee State-Wide Evaluation Study

Supplemental Educational Services (SES), a component of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, provides free tutoring to economically disadvantaged children who are attending Title I schools in their 2nd or more years of school improvement. This research evaluated SES in Tennessee to determine the: (a) impacts on student achievement, and (b) perceptions of SES implementation and outcomes by teachers, district coordinators, principals/site coordinators, and parents. Using value-added methodology, statistical analyses of achievement data controlled for both student ability and teacher effects in 2 alternative models. Not surprisingly, parent reactions to SES were highly positive, whereas those by the 3 other stakeholder groups were more mixed. Achievement results from both analytical models yielded mostly small and nonsignificant provider effects. The implications of the findings for evaluating SES are discussed with regard to both research and policy issues. Recommendations are offered for broadening the evaluation of SES through smaller mixed-methods studies to examine implementation and educational outcomes in more highly controlled contexts.     

Library Learning Space—Empirical Research and Perspective

Dentistry &; Oral Sciences Source from EBSCO Information Services provides indexing and full-text access to an extensive selection of dental journal literature, as well some full-text dental monographs. As stated by EBSCO, titles are chosen from those commonly held in dental school libraries. The database aims to support practitioners, researchers, and advanced dental education. This column includes sample searches from Dentistry &; Oral Sciences Source as well as a discussion of its special content and features.     

A Telecommuting Interlibrary Loan Librarian's Experience: The Views of Both the Telecommuter and the On-Site Supervisor

Because of the changing world of librarianship and the introduction of new technologies, telecommuting has become an innovative option for certain jobs in the library. Telework gives an organization the opportunity to retain skilled employees and cut the costs of recruiting, selection, and training of a new employee. There are certain tasks in the workflow of the interlibrary loan department that could permit an employee to work from a distance. This is specifically due to resource sharing management systems such as ILLiad. Florida Atlantic University decided to retain an interlibrary loan employee who had to relocate and try telecommuting on a trial basis. This paper details the employee's experiences.     

From closed to open: Job role changes,individual predispositions,and the adoption of commercial open source software development

When trying to attain the benefits of open source software (OSS), proprietary closed source software (PCSS) firms are struggling to adopt this radically different practice of software development. We approach these adoption challenges as a problem of gaining support for organizational innovation. Through a mixed-method research design consisting of qualitative interviews and a survey of employees of a large telecommunications firm, we find that the organizational innovation to commercially engage in OSS has different impacts on technical and administrative dimensions of different job roles. Accordingly, individuals enacting different job roles are—on average—more or less well aligned with the OSS practice and OSS processes per se. We find that individual-level attributes can counterbalance the job role changes that weaken support for adopting OSS, while perceived organizational commitment has no effect. Suggestions for PCSS firms are presented and implications for innovation literature are discussed.